Fatigue
Those things in life that are worth having are those things which are difficult to come by; perseverance is made more rewarding by the volume of messages ignored by the mind as we work towards a goal.
Fatigue comes in many forms and is normally framed in negative connotations; weariness, exhaustion – both things to avoid. For a Cyclist, it can carry a range of meanings. We may become weary of riding in the rain, as I normally am at this time of year; stuffing my shoes with yesterday’s newspaper post-ride in the hope that the dry accounting of our current events will somehow render my shoes less soggy the next day. We may become weary as we approach the big climb of the day when we know what suffering lies around the bend. To push on during an effort despite an overwhelming exhaustion that lays bare our spirit and threatens to stop our legs from turning.
But fatigue can be a beautiful thing. The fatigue that registers as a result of the post-ride status check is the gauge by which we measure satisfaction in our work. Even during the ride, we find that fatigue may not always be the sentinel of the Man with the Hammer; even as the wave of exhaustion washes over us, we learn through practice that we can continue or even lift our effort.
My favorite fatigue is the kind that sets in during a long ride; when the body has acquiesced to the mind and the signals of discomfort and pain have stopped being sent. The legs at this point take on an almost anesthetic quality to them, they don’t hurt but they don’t feel either; they have a thickness that, while they lack the punch they have when fresh, allows us to continue to push on the pedals for hours on end.
This happened to me during my most recent long ride. It was a cold, rainy day – cold enough that snow fell at the tops of the two major climbs of the day. The last big climb came at 160km and, while there is no such thing as a flat route in the Seattle area, the roads home lacked the steep grades that characterize our urban streets. The descent from Cougar Mountain froze me to my core. Starting in the snow and ending in the pouring rain, I arrived at the first of the minor climbs on the way home and pushed the button on my left shifter to slip into the little ring. Instead of making contact, my frozen hand slipped limply along the lever and did little more than jiggle the button.
This presented an unusual problem. At this point I was tired after having a piled a load of kilometers in my legs. I was also becoming just the slightest bit annoyed at how cold I was. I swerved dangerously as I experimented with bashing different parts of my hands and arms against the disappointingly stubborn shifter to try to get it to budge. Inanimate objects and I have an uneasy history, and I soon found myself giving it the customary inputs involving profanity and questioning the pureness of its mother.
Having that unpleasant business out of the way, I resigned myself to riding home in the big ring feeling fortunate that my right hand was still capable of shifting so at least I wasn’t riding a glorified single speed. And then it hit me: it was actually quite easy to carry on this way, riding in the big ring. The legs still managed to turn over and I hardly felt a thing as I pushed harder on them whenever the road pointed up. Even a few of the hills on which I struggle to stay in the big ring during my usual training rides seemed to pass under my wheels without giving undue notice.
That sensation of power combined with the heavy fatigue I carried with me distinguishes itself as one that comes only during my longest rides on those days when my form is good enough that the effort hasn’t cracked me entirely. Wholly unlike the seduction of La Volupte, it does bear a vague similarity in its rarity. Powerful fatigue; vive la Vie Velominatus.
@Ron
@Tartan1749
Yup; kids and a house–huge timesucks (but I wouldn’t have it any other way!). You learn to adapt. Ten years ago, I never would’ve dreamed of getting up at 4:30 am just to ride a bike. I read about all of the mammoth km’s you guys put in, and I’m jealous. But, my modest 35 km weekday rides (and only slightly less modest 55 km weekend rides) allow me to have the time to pay attention to those other important things, too.
VLVV (paterfamilias style).
@mcsqueak
I accordance with Rule VII, just cultivate carefully – and use sunscreen
LOL, I’d scare Casper this time of year
@Steampunk
I will be busy in the BC mountains in May. Perhaps the making of a Stage-Cogal?
@The Oracle
Yeah, those early Spring mornings when the others in the household decide that it is a nice day to build a rock garden….
@Dan_R
I use gobs of the stuff, and generally don’t get much of a tan so to speak. I have friends that ask me how I can ride so much and still be so pale.
I’ve already had a few moles removed, so I don’t take any chances when spending all that extra time in the sun during the summer.
@mcsqueak
Even when I was a I hated lotion. Do most of the time I don’t wear any. Needless to say I don’t have any problem getting a tan. I currently have a wicked sock tan line.
Does this Zones training thing really work – I’m basic pretty lazy when it comes to being organised, and like to get on my wheels and bang out the miles in a daydream interspersed with frequent nightmare scenes etc
I can’t be arsed to wear my HRM anymore, but all my mates are nagging me to work at 60% this and 80% that – I do seem to be getting slower rather than faster, and some of my Strava times are frankly becoming too embarrassing to post!
Obviously I would like to hear the answer along the lines of… “Nah, frigging waste of time”
You can marvel at my perfect tan lines on the Keepers’ Tour, assuming they aren’t hidden under three layers.
How cold is it going to be, now that I think about it… The warmest thing I have here is a light gilet and arm/knee warmers.
@Dr C
Dr C, while you’re here, even though it is OT… Chris said you were getting to the tour via Brussels on Fri afternoon.
I’m flying in mid afternoon and hiring a car if you want a lift.
@ChrisO
Cool – I was going to get the train over, as I am too tight to pay for a car, but if you have space for a little fat one and a bike back, then I would take you up on that – will you not have the familia entouragia with you? (maybe you are hiring a minibus?)
I think you are about 5 miles from us, so if not too much hassle, it would help get me there on time
Perhaps we should get Fronk, who ought to delegate this task to someone else, to connect us via email to coordinate?
@ChrisO
and you can marvel at the large elipse of shin I removed Saturday whilst losing interest in the #33 compliance task – nothing like a couple of sharp blades and an endless bleeder to focus the mind…
You’ll be fine in a gilet and kneekers BTW
@Dan_R
Or a pallet of stone pavers.
@Dr C
Indeed he should, but failing that I’m at ohearnc @ gmail . Ping me and I’ll give you my arrival times etc. I’ve ordered a Golf and will pick up from the airport so with just two of us there should be plenty of space for a bike.
I’m staying at the Hostellerie Kemmelberg and hoping I don’t turn up and find there are seventeen villages called Kemmel and I’m at a totally different one.
The family plan went awry as our eldest had to attend CCF camp and so they wouldn’t be able to get over until the end of the weekend and we decided it wasn’t worthwhile.
Don’t tell the Velomissus but the way I see it is that I get the brownie points for having had a plan to include the family, avoid the disapproval of going off cycling for the weekend, but yet I am still free to do everything with you guys. Result.
@Dr C
Doc – probably the best part about it, speaking from years of personal experience with marathons, (gasp) triathlon and ultracycling shenanigans, is knowing that it’s an easy day, then using the HRM to keep you there. It’s too easy to go hard every day, then never get a decent recovery.
While it takes a huge well of determination to attain Mach V every day, you’ll slowly degrade. It takes just as much determination to keep tooling along at 60% when everyone around you blows past, training hard to be the Spring Huevo.
Especially for those of us who are not getting any younger, the recovery is just as, if not more, important than the work.
We’ll have a week to talk about it, if you’d like. Especially about the dangers of getting fixated on the numbers and ignoring the feel.
Found the perfect article for this thread. From Smithsonian magazine, no less. Mentions Fränk’s nemesis, Haleakala, as well as Ventoux.
Excerpt:
Climbing such roads on a bicycle delivers endorphins to the brain, strengthens muscles and calms the mind. It works like yoga, asking concentration while allowing meditation. Big climbs mean health, nourishment and prolonged youth. We thrive on them …
Chapeau, Frank. Now that the first point of Aries is behind us, I am coming out of my gloom to make plans for the coming months. I have already signed up from (imperial) centuries out through September (and one special event in that month I have sent you email about.) Anticipation of the Suffering is often part of the fun.
@ChrisO
don t worry, there is only one town called Kemmel and there is a hill – Kemmelberg (up to 23% on cobbles), which is visible from a distance. if you are landing in Brussels, follow E40 motorway towards Gent, E17 towards Kortrijk, then A19 towards Ieper. then you ll see signs Heuvelland or Kemmel. the roads over there are a bit narrow and criss cross, but there are enough signs to find your way… it will be a 2 hour ride or something, if there are no traffic jams or road works. and, please drive on the right side of the road…
very nice region to cycle by the way. for some reason, riding along those fields makes me silent and thinking about what happened some 100 years ago. the Westhoek still bears the scars of WWI…
@ChrisO
I am also staying at the Hostellerie Kemmelberg. I’ll land in Brussels at 11:25 AM and have a car reserved. Just staying through to Monday as family obligations for the rest of “Semana Santa” prevent participating in the full week. If anybody else is coming in near that time, I’m happy to offer a ride.
I’ve been following your recent activity on Strava and one thing I’m sure of is that if the ride breaks into multiple groups, your group will certainly be ahead of mine!
@Dr C, Hoping for some company back in the grupetto.
Looking forward to meeting you guys.
@Dr C
f-ckin oath it does work – but only if you do it properly. If you want to do it, you need to work out your max HR before anything else and then you need to structure your training so you do the right riding at the right times. Getting mates to tell you that “today you should be in zone 2” is useless.
Don’t bother with it unless you are going to do a proper program – heaps of internet resources to use but if you are serious about it, get a coach. My suggestion would be to find a target ride/race in say 8-12 weeks time (or maybe 8-12 weeks after the Keepers tour) get a structured training program and use it.
Sticking to a structured program without a specific goal at the end can be hard.
Try searching around cyclingtips.com for a few good general articles.
If done properly, it will make your hard rides harder and your easy riders easier. And you will get better.
I had the duality of fatigue and La Volupte recently. Saturday started with a dose of 230kms @ 32.5kph. I worked Monday 9am-Tuesday 5am, slept on a table for a couple hours and then resumed working until 3:30pm. After that binge, I thought, “Damn, it’s 80. It’s Michigan. It’s March. I gotta ride!” Upon hitting the road, I discovered my legs weren’t there. The more I pushed, the faster I went, but the legs just said, “Try me!”. So I knocked 10 minutes off one of my usual 70km routes in euphoric fashion. The ride became a game of “Can I go harder?” with the answer always an emphatic “Yes!”. The VMH came over for dinner after my ride, and I was giddy with the high from La Volupte (or perhaps the 2 hours of crap sleep started catching up). Perhaps my whole body was purging the endless hours in the Linux kernel network stack from the last few days. Please let that be so.
@Dr C
Using the HRM is handy, but it can be easy to become a slave to it. I think it’s a generally useful tool to make sure you are going hard enough, rather than too hard for a given ride. The legs are damn good about saying, “Hey, lay off a bit” But the HRM helps to keep you going hard enough. Easy sometimes slips to too easy.
About once or twice a week, I want to hurt myself or other people, those become the hard days. I don’t care what the HRM says. I just flog myself. Otherwise, find a steady rhythm and stay with it for ever and ever. Let the HRM tell you if that rhythm is hard enough.
There, in the very depths of my fatigue, I found that one blessed thing that keeps the legs turning even after a monumental effort; just a little more V.
@la Vela
VEGEMITE ??
@JC Belgium
Cool thanks – no worries about driving on the right, that’s how we do it in Abu Dhabi. I do so much driving here and hardly any when I’m in London that I now have to consciously think about driving on the left.
On the war theme, yes it’s a shame my family can’t come over as we were going to have a look at some of the battlefield sites and go up to Ypres, Menin Gate etc.
My son wants to join the army so I figure he should see it’s not all like Call of Duty. Appropriately it is CCF camp (Cadets… school army) which is stopping them coming.
@Skip Also cool, good to have someone else there. I’ll send you my details by email.
As for where I’ll be, I’m sure the cobbles will be a great leveller.
And possibly the weather.
@Vin’cenza
Toast, butter & Vegemite. Pre-ride breakfast of champions
I’m sure there’s an element of still being excited by the first ride on the new bike, but what I’m happiest about at the moment is that solid, heavy feeling creeping up from my ankles through to my hips that tells me for the first time in 3 weeks I’ve given myself & the guns a proper test.
What I’m not so excited about is the stiffness that I know is on the way for my chest tomorrow, I can already tell that the muscles of my rib cage did a lot more work this morning than they’re entirely comfortable with!
@Marcus
Spot fuckin’ on with all your feedback there. Also keep in mind that if you’re training for a goal, have another lined up after it to keep the momentum; if you’re using a ride as a carrot, you may find that once you complete it, you’ll find yourself a little aimless. Having another one coming up afterwards will help you maintain focus and not gobble up too many chips and guzzle too many ales.
@frank
The post-Keepers Tour period could be a bit of problem, as you say, it’s a easy to feel a bit aimless or empty after such an anticipated event. I’m going to need a full on summer programme.
On the subject of Fatigue I thought some of you guys might find this this interesting. An article discussing the pros and cons of using Coke as a sports drink. Pretty interesting stuff.
@Benj
Not sure I like the idea of a coke/gatorade mix but I might give coke a try on some longer rides. Maybe a mix of coke and cake!
@Benj
It also makes a good recovery drink for hangovers. Many a morning I have reached in the fridge for the red ambulance.
“That sensation of power combined with the heavy fatigue I carried with me distinguishes itself as one that comes only during my longest rides on those days when my form is good enough that the effort hasn’t cracked me entirely.”
I find this to be dead on accurate, but I cannot totally predict when this sensation will occur. There are times when the effort has destroyed me and I have no sensations of power, and all I can think of is getting off the bike and real food. Other times the sensations appear out of nowhere, and I am giddy with bewilderment as to how the legs have a mind of their own after a 4-6 hour ride. On the rare occurences that this happens, I always try to analyze why this does not happen every long ride, but I think Frank finally nailed it…..if the Form, Stroke and Vendurance are not already at fairly high levels…the Man with the Hammer overcomes these splendid sensations.
@Benj
The famous (infamous) coach from the 80’s and early 90’s Eddie Borysewicz (Eddie B) used to suggest having a “rocket bottle” that you’d hammer down about 5-10K before the end of a race. It had flat Coke, a couple shots of espresso and a shot or two of whiskey. I can’t imagine being full on in the red zone, that point where eating or drinking anything is near impossible and sucking that down.
I guess these days it’d be Redbull and vodka or Monster and Jagermeister.
@scaler911
That sounds downright impossible to digest during an effort. But then again, who knows?
There’s something special about Coke as a sports beverage. My usual order on a mid-ride coffee stop is a double espresso and a coke, and it simply works. My mother uses it during her long-distance triathlons – coke in one bottle, water in the other, and a mini Red Bull next to her shoes in each transition. Even at work – as a waiter, on a high-stress day you can easily find yourself low on sugar and energy after several hours of non-stop work, and nothing, not even a thick slice of buttered bread, can beat a glass of Coke.
I don’t drink it on the bike, though, as I find the taste quite nasty when de-fizzed. That’s where I stick to my tried-and-true homebrew: 1/4 Orange juice, a sprinkle of fleur de sel and brown sugar, and the rest water.
@scaler911
That train of thought keeps getting grosser and grosser. I wouldn’t drink any of that partying – let alone riding a bike!
@tessar
All topped by that! Salt and brown sugar in OJ? Kill me now, but Nuuns and water work just fine for me, thankyouverymuch.
@tessar
Did the Etape a couple of years back – Le Tourmalet – and met a more experienced rider than me (actually there were about 10,000 of them) whose formula is as follows: start a long ride two water bottles, each filled with high density carbohydrate drink. When you’ve drunk them, refill with water and add electrolyte tablets or nothing at all. Keep refilling throughout the event (on that day, 180km with two Cat 1’s and one HC, in 80-85deg heat, I refilled each bottle three times) until one hour to go. Then drink full fat coke and/or espresso. Caffeine and sucrose are the key ingredients. This will lift you to the finish. After that you will crash, so experiment and time it correctly. You don’t want to crash with 2km still to go.
@mcsqueak
Smart move. I lost my track mentor in early 2010 and it may have been his last lesson before passing on.
@Kyle
Oh good, I feel my back just thinking about it.
@Club Velo des Moutons Noirs
I’ve crashed short of the line with a chase group. Bloddy hell does it suck when you wobble across the line and one of the guys tells you about the sprint for 4th, etc, etc.
@Dan_R
Yeah. I’d love to have a good tan, but I love not having skin cancer even more! I do get very slight tan lines, but nothing that is very noticeable or worth bragging about/trying to show off.
Also, here is some top-secret video I found of you finishing that race:
@frank
And pot belge took it a step further. Take it while you’re racing and at the after party.
@Marcus
Or while driving in the caravan! No dope controls for the team staff!
@mcsqueak
I love the priorities there – not oh shit, or ouch, or is my bike ok…”Did I win?”
@frank
No doubt! Now, does that actually count? Do you have to be “on your bike and under control” when you cross the finish, or can you fly/fall/roll across it first and still technically win?
@mcsqueak
Damn, I wish that was me, because he won! I was refering to the crash of fatigue which is a lot more common and a lot less video worthy.
There was a guy that skipped across the line during the bunch sprint on a NRC race a few years ago and he was given the win.
@frank
I wouldn’t drink that concoction unless the ride is long (otherwise, plain water) – but in my hot climate, sweating is inevitable along with the resultant loss of salt. When your body needs it, everything tastes better with added salt. I’ve purposely adopted the habit of sprinkling some Fleur de Sel into everything I eat – and I eat like a pig; two-three full, carb-rich meals a day plus breakfast and grazing.
Basically, my mix is not far from the concept of Gatorade and other isotonic drinks – the diluted OJ is less thick, the sugar adds some energy and the salt replaces what was sweated away. It’s delicious on a hot day on the bike – I like it better than powder-mixed iso.
@Club Velo des Moutons Noirs
On the few occasions I did 6-7+ hour rides, I did pretty much that, but more out of necessity than planning – it’s hard to replenish the carb-drink out on the road. Did he explain why he stops the fuelling until the final drink?
I tend to keep homemade sachets of HI5 powder in my pockets to refill bottles on any rides over 50km. I found it necessary in Oz, especially over summer, when the temps are regularly in the high 30s and sometimes low to mid 40s. A couple of times I even took the step of adding salt but found the mix to be like sucking cordial through a dirty sock, maybe I should add some coke and spice the mix up a bit.
That said I reckon coke has to be the best thing for warding off the bonk mid-ride. I’m fairly sure it’s saved me a number of times from an agonising leg home.
@mcsqueak
Try riding almost anywhere in Australia and no matter how much sunscreen you use you’ll end up with some stunning tan lines.
The whole topic of fatigue, and going until the tank gets empty and beyond has always been interesting and attractive for me. On uncountable occasions in my 20’s I emptied the tank completely either on a bike or nordic skiing. It was an enjoyable part of my life.
In recent years (I am now 47) I have come to see the effects of this. I sought medical help for some metabolic stuff that was going on, and ran a series of very complete blood tests. From this, my endocrinologist diagnosed that I have relevant, irreversible damage to my pancreas resulting directly from ’emptying the tank’ too completely, too many times. I am managing this carefully to not progress into diabetes.
Now I still go for hard 6-hour rides, but never without a ton of food, drinks, water stops,…
Expand your limits, enjoy the glory of suffering, but be smart about it.
Hmm, well the main thing is to do what works for you but that said…
You only have to look at the triathletes who can’t seem to go around the block without six gels taped to their top tube to there’s a lot of money directed at making people use more prepared drinks etc.
There are some interesting articles on it (and on lots of other sports science stuff) here:
http://www.sportsscientists.com/2008/01/featured-series-on-science-of-sport.html
Essentially if I recall several of their pieces correctly they suggest that:
1. You should drink to thirst, not to some prescribed amount, and generally water.
2. If you drink sports drinks to the recommended amounts, your body’s electrolyte levels may fall, because the concentration is not high enough in sports drinks but you are adding more liquids.
3. On the other hand if you increase your sodium levels you will only feel thirstier.
3. Studies have shown better performance with slight dehydration. 2-3% is normal and in fact optimal.
I certainly agree there is more cause to use energy supplements in extreme heat but I have radically cut down my use, and will now do a 130-140km ride with just water (and a short food/coffee break).
In summer I will use more, but generally one water bottle to one energy drink bottle is as high as I would go. And gels are just for emergency use.
@Fredrik
I have never enjoyed the feeling of emptying the tank. Last time it happened was on a 4 hour ride with @scaler911 a few months back, where I only had water in the bidons and a single granola bar in my pocket as a snack. About 3/4 of the way through I just felt like I hit a wall, and I wound up “limping” home. Was not a good feeling, and it’s interesting to think that you can actually harm yourself by doing that too often.
@ChrisO
It’s not a shocker that the sports drink companies want you to consume as much of their product as possible.
I don’t know if they have these same commercials in the sand pit and back in the UK, but here in America Gatorade has launched a line of “pre”, “during” and “post” workout energy drinks and gels, targeted specifically at people going to the gym and playing basketball (from what I can tell from the commercials, any ways).
That just seems silly to me, and a major overkill. If you can’t make it through a 1-2 hour gym session or a pickup basketball game without energy supplements, you’re doing something wrong!
I’ve found more recently (like over the past half year or so) I seem to get hungry on my rides towards the end. Energy drinks seem to hold the edge off of that, but I’m also thinking I should eat closer to riding (my strategy until now was to give myself a good hour or two between eating and riding in order to let everything get out of my stomach and not cause cramps while riding).
For rides of less than two hours, water seems to work just fine. Over that and I like HEED, but I use only a single scoop in each bottle, and drink when thirsty, not at specific intervals to try and replace energy. I think the “formula” on the bag for someone of my weight is supposed to be like 2-3 scoops, which seems crazy. As it stands now, a single bag will last me almost 6 months.
@mcsqueak
I started using HEED last year, and I have noticed a benefit in my performance. I consume it about the same way you do, which is to say that if I’m on the bike more than two hours, I’ll bring a bottle of it with me. If you ride more than two hours, Hammer Nutrition recommends Perpetuem, which I haven’t tried. One of my riding buddies swears by it, though, for his really long rides.
There may be a marginal performance benefit in one over the other for extended duration events, but I think it is likely just one more way to separate me from my ducats.
Fatigue? Back in my younger days (the 80s) I knew nothing and would go 3 hour rides with one bottle and little or nothing to eat. The last 10 miles were usually done very slowly as I hit the wall hard. Years and knowledge have since improved and I drink and eat enough. Never tried Coke as I generally avoid soft drinks, but might give it a try sometime.
When I do organized rides, I usually stop at each rest stop, but just long enough to refill bottles and grab a very quick bite. I don’t hang around. At the end of the ride it’s fitness, not fatigue, that’s the enemy.
For me, prep is key. In my case a big bowl of raisins, yogurt and oats mixed together. Nice, slow release energy for the day.
@ChrisO
Two of my riding partners are Ironman triathletes sponsored by Gu, and I sometimes wonder what the hell they’d do without that endless supply of gels and Chomps they appear to consume. I pack light – a gel for emergencies only, otherwise I stick to granola bars and a banana. Gels are too expensive for me to consume on when training, or just-riding – I save the gels for raceday. Pre-ride food is as simple as it gets – white bread or pasta, with jam and Napolitana respectively – so it doesn’t “get stuck” in your stomach.
On drinks, however, I don’t skimp. Summer here gets to a brutal 35-37c heat with high moisture, and tends to go over 40c in the desert regions. If it’s a short pop up and down the mountains (sub-50km), I’ll take a single bottle since I can rest and drink at the end. However, if I intend to be on the bike for more than three hours, I’ll make sure to I have something to drink until there’s an hour to go.